Lasagna- Teach me your tricks?

I don't like ricotta in lasagna so I didn't make it, then I realized there is no rule that I must put it in there so I don't. My lasagna is strictly meat and a ton of mozzarella. My SO and 3 boys inhale it.

I don't like ricotta in lasagna so I didn't make it, then I realized there is no rule that I must put it in there so I don't. My lasagna is strictly meat and a ton of mozzarella. My SO and 3 boys inhale it.

Ha. Similarly to cadoodlebug, my usual trick/tip for lasagna is to suggest that the boys get their dad to fix it for them. I don't particularly care for it-something about the white cheeses and tomato sauce and meat? (I make mine with ground turkey.) I feel the same indifferent vague nausea for ziti too. 

I do kind of dig the white sauce kind with spinach and other veggies (although you can throw in chicken too.) 

I use the noodles that you don't have to preboil, buy mine at Trader Joe's but they sell them in all sorts of places. That way, instead of the noodles absorbing water when being boiled, they absorb the sauce I layer below and above the noodles. Much more flavorful, in my opinion. I think a combo of ricotta, parmesan and mozzarella make a delicious lasagne. You can make it with meat, or vegetarian. I love one that has feta, roasted eggplant, pureed pumpkin and pesto. Sooo many kinds. My husband prefers a very meaty lasagne, so you might ask your dh what kind of lasagne he likes.

Sorry, I don't have an actual recipe, I just wing it. But I do use lots of cheese. I also find that baking it longer and at a lower heat works well. My pan is deep, so about 1.5 hours at 325 degrees, I think. IF you scan some recipes by a few well known chefs you can wing it too. Very forgiving, lasagne.

Have fun with it - and hopefully you'll actually enjoy it too.

Oh, I do find that using a sauce that you really like makes a huge difference. Any flavors in the sauce seem to be made stronger when cooked in this way.

No tricks, but I've been making it since I was a teen because I love it that much. I use ricotta, but my mom always used cottage cheese. I brown hamburger with onion and fresh garlic. I use Prego spaghetti sauce. I boil my noodles, then assemble. Meat sauce, noodles, ricotta, mozzarella and fresh parmesan and repeat layering. We like it super cheesy and garlicky. And since it's just the two of us, a pan feeds us all week!

My tips are to use fresh pasta that you don't have to boil, don't over sauce the layers (it will make it soupy) and the same thing goes with the ricotta dont over use. I also whip the ricotta with an egg to make it creamier.

my tip is to make it very early - bake it and let it cool - it sets up during the cooing stage

then you can cut it and reheat it

i always make mine a day ahead

gina

Where I lived as a kid, we didn't have ricotta cheese, and nobody even cooked with fresh garlic or ethnic ingredients. 

My mom used prego spaghetti sauce and ground sirloin, extra mushrooms, and cottage cheese instead of ricotta. I prefer the texture of cottage cheese to ricotta. The texture of ricotta is a bit "sandy" to me. We also used bagged shredded mozzarella cheese. 

When we lived in Allen Park, MI, a suburb right below the Detroit city limits, there were a lot of great ethnic grocers, bakeries, etc. Our favourite was Liberatti's Italian Bakery & Deli For $20 you could get a huge deep pan of their homemade lasagne. Homemade noodles, meat sauce, blend of fresh cheeses and served 8-10 people. When dh's parents would visit, I would pick up a pan along with their homemade ready to toast garlic toast on their fresh baked bread. 

The cheese and fresh noodles made it the best we've ever had. It was super gooey.

I like doing fewer layers and having more meat sauce and cheese to noodle ratio. I also like a deeper pan that's a bit smaller for more thick layers.

I also love Moussaka, which is a Greek dish similar to lasagne that has eggplant instead of noodles. Many recipes have ground lamb, but I'm not a fan of lamb, so I use beef. 

I like doing a Lasagne/Moussaka blend--do noodle, meat sauce, cheese, eggplant, meat sauce, noodle, cheese, meat sauce, eggplant, cheese. 

Since I use a lot of cheese mixture, I don't feel like I need the bechamel sauce. I've had Moussaka with and without and I prefer without. 

I use the recipe on the box of Barilla no cook lasagna noodles.

It's very easy. I brown 1 lb ground beef (or turkey) in a jar of Rao's sauce. At the same time, I boil a box of lasagna noodles and I mix ricotta cheese with an egg and Italian Seasoning. Put some sauce on bottom of pan, layer of noodles, layer of cheese, sprinkle with mozzarella, layer of meat sauce. Repeat 3x. top with last bit of sauce and mozzarella cheese and grated Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil, bake at 350 for 30 minutes, take off foil and bake until everything's bubbly and browned and gorgeous.

You could make your own sauce; you could make your own noodles, I suppose. But the Rao's sauce is a delicious convenience and who has time to make pasta?

I mix one egg with the ricotta, a handful of shredded parmesan, about 1 Tbsp of dried Italian herbs, lots of chopped fresh parsley, salt and pepper.

I use the Barilla no bake noodles. I do make my own sauce usually with sausage - it's easy! - but like peabay said Rao's is probably the best of the store bought kind. Stock up when it goes on sale.

Start with some sauce in the bottom of the pan before you add the noodles so it doesn't stick.

I actually love lasagna, but as as the anti-cook, I didn't think I could make one that anyone would like. Plus, my DD is still such a picky eater... But MIL gave me a recipe way back in the dark ages when DH and I first got engaged, and it truly lives up to its name of being EASY. And it's actually really yummy - DD and DH both actually request it. 

Easy Lasagna

INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic - minced
1 lb ground beef
16 oz tomato sauce
salt/pepper/oregano
8 oz package broad lasagna noodles
½ lb mozzarella cheese - shredded
¾ lb ricotta cheese
½ cup parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
Brown garlic and meat in olive oil. Add tomato sauce, salt, pepper, oregano. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
Cook noodles until al dente. Drain.
In a large bowl, mix all cheeses until well combined.
Fill cassarole or long shallow pan with alternating layers of noodles, meat mixture, and cheese, ending with a layer of meat & cheese.
Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until sauce is bubbly.

My tip for lasagna is to buy the regular noodles (our family likes the heartiness of whole wheat noodles in lasagna) and then don't boil them. They will suck up all the extra moisture from the sauce and you wont have to wait as long for the dish to "set up" out of the oven.